Christmas season of 1939 was reported to be the most profitable one since the start of the Great Depression in 1929. Businesses around town were doing well, and people were more involved in activities of the season.

The Chamber of Commerce and other organizations sponsored community activities such as the Christmas celebration in downtown, with the lighting of the newly installed Christmas lights. Santa Clause attended that party giving out gifts to hundreds of good boys and girls. Numerous businesses and homes throughout the city decorated with many participating in the Christmas Decorating Contest sponsored by the Chamber in partnership with the Garden Club and Rotary Club.

Christmas Belle's page from Dec. 24, 1939.(Photo: ARCHIVE PHOTO)

Winsberg’s Department Store won the business contest and was awarded the coveted loving cup sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. Their decoration that year depicted a huge snow-capped castle, surrounded by evergreens arranged on top of the street awning that was visible for several blocks in all directions. A speaker attached to a phonograph inside the store played Christmas carols that were heard throughout downtown.

The Rotary Club announced the residential winners for each City Ward that year, with prizes awarded on December 27th. Mrs. Ladislas Lazaro, Jr. received an electric toaster awarded by Evans Electrical Supply for the outstanding decoration in the city. The winners in the four city wards were: Mrs. A. E. Veltin, Mrs. Oswald Perkins, Mrs. J. G. Lawler and Mrs. John Dezauche. Each winner received a $5 award courtesy of the chamber, Mayor David Hollier and Frank Daly.

Since the local economy was on an upswing that year, people were able to give more to charity. The annual Doll and Toy fund, organized by the Catholic Daughters of America and the Clarion-News, collected a record breaking $300.00 in 1939. Those monies paid for dolls, all types of toys, Christmas candy and clothing that were distributed by schools and churches to needy children. Also that year people purchased more Christmas Seals sold by the Opelousas Post Office as a fundraiser to help with the fight against Tuberculosis.

Merry Christmas from the Daily World first edition, second section, front page on Sunday, Dec. 24, 1939.(Photo: ARCHIVE PHOTO)

Baby dolls and dollhouses for girls, toy trains and pedal cars for boys were favorites on the lists good boys and girls sent to Santa. However the batman comics, the newly introduced View Masters and the beach ball were listed as the most popular toys of that year. Besides the story of Baby Jesus and the meaning of Christmas, the other most read children’s story was Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer, introduced in 1939. That story about “the most famous reindeer of all” was the first about Santa’s team since the eight flying reindeer were named in the poem A Visit From St. Nicholas, published in 1823.

Peace was the theme of the Christmas Eve radio address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939. “We desire peace. We shall work for peace,” are the words the president used in his address to the nation, as Opelousas families gathered around their radios to hear him speak. With war intensifying in Europe, Roosevelt was trying to calm those worried about the possibility of US involvement.

The first issue of the Daily World on Christmas Eve devoted a full page to the Christmas Belle’s of the season. Photos of six young women filled this page along with their names and the colleges they attended. The 1939 Belle’s were Doris Boagni, freshman at Southwest Louisiana Institute in Lafayette; Gladys Elise Boudreaux, student nurse at Charity Hospital in New Orleans; Mariam Barnett, sophomore at Ursiline Convent in New Orleans; Rebecca Jane Wolff, senior at LSU in Baton Rouge; Ida Pavy, freshman at Newcomb College in New Orleans; and Gloria Sandoz, freshman at LSU in Baton Rouge. They were all in town for the Christmas holidays visiting with family and friends. The Cedar Lane Club was the popular party place for the Belles and their social crowd, where they enjoyed food, drink and music with popular songs like In The Mood by Glenn Miller, Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday and God Bless America by Kate Smith.

The paper also announced special Christmas programs in Opelousas churches, ranging from pageants built around the nativity scene to carol services on Christmas Eve. Several churches held Christmas trees and other programs for children during that week leading up to the holiday, with activities focused on the true meaning of the season. Some of the church services announced included a midnight mass on Christmas Eve at St. Landry Catholic Church plus masses held on Monday, which was Christmas day. The First Presbyterian Church announced a pageant built around the Nativity presented at 5pm on Sunday. The Epiphany Episcopal Church announced a special carol service at 11:30pm on Christmas Eve followed by a midnight mass, and the First Baptist Church had a special Christmas sermon on Sunday morning, and regular services at the evening worship hour.

Christmas morning 1939 in Opelousas was like other Christmas mornings during the 1930s, with hundreds of folks attending “open houses” that were so much a part of that decade. Families, friends and even some out-of-towners went house-to-house bringing good cheer while enjoying food, music and fun with each host and hostess. Later they settled down at home to enjoy a traditional family holiday meal.

That first edition of the Daily World also had a page with a Christmas message that read: “This day, of all days is one for universal happiness. As Scrooge’s nephew said, ‘Christmas time is a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time.’ Let’s all make it that way–-let’s all be happy, friendly and joyous, and forget for today all the discords, sorrows and disappointments that may exist at other times of the year-- it’s Christmas, let’s make it merry! Remember those aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces-–and of course, those of your immediate household-–shout a friendly greeting to neighbors and friends as you pass them by--let the kindness and joy you felt inside add to others’ happiness! So in this spirit, the entire staff of the Daily World sends heartfelt greetings to you–-to everyone--to the entire world! Every person from the managing editor to the newest copy boy joins in saying, we hope you all had A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!